Discovering joy in unexpected places – a journey into parenthood and Down's Syndrome

Monthly Archives: July 2017

Babies in the womb are to be routinely offered a new screening test. This new test will allow each baby, or foetus, to screen their parents for a whole range of potential risks.

Very soon all unborn babies will be able to see if their parents carry any risk to their quality of life or future prospects. Screening will be offered for risks such as parents who may be a potential burden to the child in their later years, or parents who may suffer any one of life’s challenges that many people might face such as illness, financial worries, divorce, redundancy or even death.

Babies will be offered balanced and up to date information as to the kind of parents they can expect. Full support and counselling will be offered to the unborn should they choose not to take up their parents. They will, of course, be encouraged to try again for a better set in the future.

So far, only major risks are being screened for but experts say this is just the tip of the iceberg. It is envisaged that the potential for screening out a whole variety of parents is only a matter of years away. Screening experts say that, in the future, foetuses will be able to ask for all manner of things to be screened including the colour of their parents’ hair, or, in the case of males, whether their fathers may go bald prematurely. Some are hopeful that the new screening tests will be further developed to predict the standard of living the babies’ parents will have as well as the types of upbringing they can offer the baby, to include things such as a good school or a university education.

Some experts and parenting groups are urging caution, however. They say there are concerns that babies will even be able to choose their parents based on which football team they support or which supermarket they shop in.

Pro-choice lobbies are hailing the new tests are a major step forward for foetuses the world over. “My body, my choice”, said one campaigner.

However, it’s not all plain sailing. Despite the huge advances in medical science it seems that babies are largely ignoring the new tests. Despite much pressure on foetuses to take the test it seems that take up has been slow. Well, non-existent really. Doctors are baffled as to why babies seem reluctant to find out as much as possible about their potential parents.